1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of devices which are used to form decorative designs into poured concrete structures such as driveways, planter borders, and edges of walkways.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, there are many prior art devices which have been used to form edges on poured concrete or masonry structures. The following Seventeen (17) patents are relevant to the field of the present invention.    1. U.S. Pat. No. 166,666 issued to William P. Walter on Aug. 10, 1875 for “Cornice Tools” (hereafter the “Walter Patent”);    2. U.S. Pat. No. 706,514 issued to Ernest A. Benninghofen on Aug. 12, 1902 for “Trowel” (hereafter the “Benninghofen Patent”);    3. U.S. Pat. No. 1,179,170 issued to Peter L. Ferguson on Apr. 11, 1916 for “Trowel” (hereafter the “Ferguson Patent”);    4. U.S. Pat. No. 1,168,643 issued to Charles E. Johnson on Jan. 18, 1916 for “Trowel” (hereafter the “Johnson Patent”);    5. U.S. Pat. No. 1,564,172 issued to Edward Harman Busch on Dec. 1, 1925 for “Cement Trowel” (hereafter the “Busch Patent”);    6. U.S. Pat. No. 1,744,097 issued to John R. Baker et al. on Jan. 21, 1930 for “Mason's Molding Trowel” (hereafter the “Baker Patent”);    7. U.S. Pat. No. 2,094,703 issued to August K. Hitzman on Oct. 5, 1937 for “Mortar Spreader And Process Of Spreading Mortar” (hereafter the “Hitzman Patent”);    8. U.S. Pat. No. 2,419,167 issued to Cyrus Sanford on Apr. 15, 1947 for “Walking Edger” (hereafter the “Sanford Patent”);    9. U.S. Pat. No. 3,045,271 issued to Julius A. Cinotti on Jul. 24, 1962 for “Universal Concrete Edger” (hereafter the “Cinotti Patent”);    10. U.S. Pat. No. 3,123,947 issued to Clyde G. Rawley on Mar. 10, 1964 for “Forming Tool” (hereafter the “Rawley Patent”);    11. U.S. Pat. No. 4,669,970 issued to John F. Perry on Jun. 2, 1980 for “Hand Tool For Finishing Corners And The Like With A Cementious Material” (hereafter the “Perry Patent”);    12. U.S. Pat. No. 4,737,097 issued to Joseph A. Cotugno on Apr. 12, 1988 for “Concrete Slab Surface Finishing Tool” (hereafter the “Cotugno Patent”);    13. United States Design Patent No. Des. 296,294 issued to Roy M. Neece on Jun. 21, 1988 for “Concrete Trowel” (hereafter the “Neece Design Patent”);    14. U.S. Pat. No. 4,766,634 issued to Louis DeVitis, R. D. on Aug. 30, 1988 for “Radius Edger” (hereafter the “634 DeVitis Patent”);    15. U.S. Pat. No. 4,766,635 issued to Louis DeVitis, R. D. on Aug. 30, 1988 for “Interior Edge-Edger” (hereafter the “635 DeVitis Patent”);    16. United States Design Patent No. Des. 412,817 issued to Ronald Charland on Aug. 17, 1999 for “Fire Hose Section Hauler” (hereafter the “Charland Design Patent”);    17. U.S. Pat. No. 6,415,472 issued to James T. Williams on Jul. 9, 2002 for “Circular Edging Tool For Concrete” (hereafter the “Williams Patent”).
The Walter Patent discloses a cornice tool and shows a plasterer's molding plate which is handheld and which has various designs on the edge of the plate. This inventions was a handheld invention which was used for plastering.
The Benninghofen Patent discloses a trowel which creates a rounded bullet-nosed side. Further, referring to FIG. 4, the patent states “For different purposes the smoothing surfaces may be formed with a diversity of ribs and grooves, as desired, one modified form of construction being shown in FIG. 4, wherein the combination of a rib 20 with a flange 9 forms a semicircular groove 21 . . . .” Therefore, this patent discloses a single rounded shape formed into an edge of a cement pavement.
The Ferguson Patent discloses a trowel which relates to plastering tools and more particularly, to a trowel where a suitable design of plastic cornices or moldings may be readily and uniformly made on the walls and ceilings of a room.
The Johnson Patent discloses a trowel which is used for forming grooves or curved corners on cement floors as well as finishing walls and buildings. In this case, the design shows that the trowel has a rounded surface so that it can create a rounded form for a concave shape on the cement border or any other portion of the cement surface. This again has only one rounded design.
The Busch Patent discloses a trowel and also shows the concept of having a handle so that the trowel can be pulled or pushed. As illustrated in FIG. 3, it shows the concept of having a rounded end or bullet-nosed end on the concrete. It also shows in FIG. 4 having various shapes but they are all one rounded shape.
The Baker Patent is a patent discloses a mason's trowel which is handheld. It is relevant because it shows a multiplicity of different shapes, round and primarily squared, in FIGS. 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7. However, it discloses no way to properly align the trowel with an edge of the poured concrete and no way to properly form an aligned series of novel multi-rounded shapes. This is primarily more of a mason's tools for walls and related types of structures.
The Hitzman Patent discloses a mortar spreader for spreading a shape onto a block 1 as best illustrated in FIGS. 3 through 6. The shape of the mortar itself has two rounded ends which are designed to form rounded edges on the block as illustrated in FIG. 5. In this way this spreads mortar into a rounded shape but it does not discloses a multiplicity of rounded shapes.
The Sanford Patent discloses an edger which is a form of trowel to finish cement work, with the edge attached to a pole.
The Cinotti Patent discloses a concrete edger and finishing tool. The object of this invention is to create a concrete edger in which the relative positioning of the parts, particularly of the handle and the blade, may be readily changed. The device is used only for flattening the concrete where the orientation of the handle 57 can be modified at different angles.
The Rawley Patent discloses a handheld forming tool for finishing both curved and flat surfaces.
The Perry Patent is a hand tool for finishing corners and the like. As disclosed in FIG. 9, the tool has a rounded member for putting a single rounded shape on corners of a structural area.
The Cotugno Patent discloses a concrete slab surface finishing tool which is provided with a combination flat floor surface working area, a lip offset surface working area joined to the flat floor surface working area, a flat lip surface working area joined to lip offset working area, and an edge surface working area joined to the flat lip surface working area. The tool has the ability to form one rounded edge at the bottom.
The Neece Patent is a design patent which protects the design of a particular concrete trowel.
The '634 DeVitis Patent is a hand tool which has a portion for showing how to make a rounded edge but this is just one bullet-nosed edge on the concrete.
The '634 DeVitis Patent discloses a hand tool for forming the interior edge of a cementitious surface. Once again, this is shown for the rounding features 8 and 6 of the tool. However, this once again is just one rounded portion.
The Charland Patent discloses a design patent for a fire house section hauler which has a rounded member for hauling a fire hose.
Finally, the Williams Patent is a circular edging tool for concrete. This patent is designed to have a circular concrete edge so that it can form the interior circle of a manhole frame.
None of the prior art patents disclose an apparatus to efficiently and effectively form a multiplicity of various rounded shapes into an edge of poured concrete. Further, none of the prior art patents disclose an apparatus to efficiently and effectively form a multiplicity of various rounded shapes into a surface of poured concrete in order to create a continuous design over the freshly poured concrete surface. There is a significant need for such an apparatus.